Zeus AAR

[Shibabalo]

I got a little tired of waiting, so I just made a thread myself.

So, at game start, I approached France and Germany about an epic Western Triple. The premise was that it would work better in Zeus than in Standard, because England and France could maul America while England and Germany maul Russia (there wouldn’t be a weak sister). This went more or less according to plan for the early game. Meanwhile, I was in another triple alliance, with China and America. This fell apart much more quickly. I wasn’t positive that I wanted to fight Russia immediately, but I decided to once I saw he opened to the East Siberian Sea, clearly to make a move for Norway. In the next few turns I used and abused Russia, telling him I would give him Norway if I could take Greece, then bouncing him out of Norway, then agreeing to attack Germany if he gave me Norway, then attacking him. It wasn’t very elegant, it wasn’t very nice, but it worked.
I then stabbed America with the help from France by taking New York. I stayed on friendly terms with America after this though, and he even offered to try to help me as he was dying. That didn’t get very far, but I appreciated the sentiment. At this point, Russia was near death (as he would be for the rest of the game) and America was collapsing. I saw an opening to stab China, and I took it goddamit. I got Japan to join in on the attack, and China was on its way to a quick and painless (well, mostly painless) death. At this point, Germany and I were expanding like yeast-ridden wombs. France was lagging, however, due to geographic issues, a couple misorders, and a determined America. I approached Germany with a plan to stab France quickly and brutally... and, well... he agreed.
With France and China gone, it came down to Germany, Japan, and I. I realized a while ago that I was at a disadvantage here, as I was in between the two of them. I tried to get Germany to keep growing, faster than I or Japan. I convinced Japan that if the two of them attacked me, he would win the race to my centers and solo (which was true). So we formed a triple alliance (my third of the game) with Russia, to stop Germany. Pretty soon I was back in the lead, but we continued our alliance another few years because it was working. I’m pretty sure Japan’s plan was to wait until just the right moment, then stab me and go for the solo. I didn’t want it to get to that point, so I approached Germany once again and explained my point of view, asking him to work with me once more against the Japanese. Then, I would stab HIM in a few years once the time came, and solo myself. Alas, it was clear Japan was talking with Germany too, and so he stabbed me this past turn. I could see my chances of soloing were null, and proposed a three-way.
An excellent variant, with excellent players as well. I enjoyed this alot.

Edit: Just realized I stabbed (not just fought, but stabbed) every other person in this game. LOLOLOL

[Pharaoh of nerds]

I made peace with China early on, he seemed eager to have a safe, stable front with me. I heard a lot of talk about everybody getting together to maul Russia, but I wasn't sure if it was going to happen so I decided to open neutrally and see where things went. America mis-ordered and got off to a weak start, but was pretty clearly trying to move heavily into the Pacific. My other front being secure, I decided to attack him. I organized a coalition with Britain and France, and we all got together and mauled America. I seized the islands very quickly and in just a few turns, America was dead and I had basically complete control of the Pacific. After that I spent a few years trying to attack France's possessions in North America, but I was unable to get anywhere. At that point I made a deal with Britain: we'd work together and both attack France and China, splitting both their territories between us. Britain got Germany on board against France, at which point I was able to take Panama and Washington, and establish a connection to the Atlantic for possible further expansion that direction. Meanwhile Britain and I ate up Chinese centers like so many cupcakes. While these were happening, it was becoming clear to me that it was going to come down to Germany, Britain, and I. I was thinking about racing Germany to Britain's centers, but Germany was expanding too quickly and it was looking like I'd lose such a race. I figured Britain was letting him do that deliberately, and Britain straight-up admitted it a few turns later, but I couldn't stop it so I agreed to not attack Britain while he took Germany down a size. Britain agreed to gradually cede certain key centers to me as he expanded against Germany; he was clearly playing a delicate game, so I kept waiting and positioned my units so he couldn't stab me very effectively. I was planning on stabbing Britain and going for the solo a turn or two after we drew, but I doubt I'd have succeeded: Germany was clearly a good enough player that he'd hold off attacking Britain long enough to stop me solo-ing.